Downtown Bangor denizens may have noticed mysterious signs that recently appeared on the storefront at 48 Main St., the former location of retail outlets including Frock Affair, Bella Luna and an antiques shop.
“Bottles & Cans Downtown Market, coming this fall,” read the signs, as well as the follow-up quote from the Beck song from 1990s “Where It’s At,” asking passers-by to “just clap your hands.”
Bottles and Cans is the mystery market, and it’s the brainchild of Milford native Paul Bosse and his girlfriend, Stefania Marthakis. If everything goes as planned, the couple hope to open the business sometime in either late October or in November. They plan to sell Maine beer, wine, local produce, eggs, dairy and bread, snacks and a small selection of grocery items.
“The time is right for downtown Bangor,” said Bosse, who lived in Portland for years before returning to the Bangor area. “We wanted to be here, not in Portland. It feels like everything has been coming together in Bangor over the past few years. Now is the time.”
Bosse and Marthakis plan to offer what he’s calling “99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall,” a selection of varieties of mostly Maine-made beers, as well as a small selection of wine. The pair are working with an organic distributor to offer year-round organic produce and groceries. They also plan to offer a selection of snacks and pre-made food items for quick, grab-and-go lunches and evening snacks.
“It’s a convenience store but with things that you wouldn’t get at a chain. We will have some commercial products, yes. But we want local stuff and organic stuff, too,” said Bosse, who is well-known in Maine as a drummer and visual artist. “We’re not a restaurant or a deli; we’re a market. There’s no place downtown to buy eggs or milk or snacks. There was Sweet’s Market back in the day, but nothing has filled in that niche until now.”
A specific opening date has not been set, but the pair are working on the needed updates to the space, which has been home to mostly retail businesses for decades.
“This will hopefully complement what’s already happening in downtown,” Bosse said. “There are a lot of people living here now, and now they have a place to get basics and grab a six-pack or a snack.”
